About Me

I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America

Friday, January 4, 2008

The security incidents in Iraq continue at a brisk pace, but the mainstream media in the United States has decided the Iraq war is not worth covering even though there are still 160,000 young Americans deployed to Iraq.

The story of what happened to one young female soldier was told on Friday in the Washington Post and is a tragic reminder of what is taking place in Iraq but pathetically finds only one news outlet in the United States. Here is the link to a story you MUST read: http://tinyurl.com/2zdp36

Security incidents in Baghdad and around Iraq on Friday, January 4, 2003

Baghdad:#1: A U.S. helicopter missile killed one insurgent and wounded two others, including another insurgent, when it attacked a house in a rural area just south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Five suspected insurgents were detained..#2: Around 8.30 a.m., a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol at Shoala high way ( north west Baghdad). No casualties reported..#3: Around 3 p.m., a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol at Al-Mawal intersection at Palestine street .No casualties reported ,but damage to one of the vehicles , police said..Six civilians were injured on Friday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol in eastern Baghdad, a source from the interior ministry said." An explosive charge was detonated this afternoon in the Palestine street region in eastern Baghdad, targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI)." The explosion injured six civilians and set ablaze a U.S. vehicle," he added..#4: Police found two unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad: One was found in Mahmoudiyah in southern Baghdad ( Karkh bank ) while the second dead body was found in Suleikh in northern Baghdad ( Risafa bank ) .Diyala Prv:#1: The US military, meanwhile, denied on Friday that its forces had killed three civilians in Diyala the previous day, as reported by Iraqi officials. Iraqi army Major Ziad al-Ani said two people died in the town of Al-Ghalibiyah, just west of Baquba, when a US patrol shot up their vehicle as it entered the main street from a side road while the convoy was passing.In another incident, US forces killed a civilian crossing the street near a gas factory in the centre of Baquba, said police captain Muhannad al-Bawi. "There were no conventional forces in the area. These reports appear to be false", said Lieutenant Stephen Bomar, of Task Force Iron in Warhorse camp, near Baquba.Muqdadiya:#1: U.S. forces killed two insurgents just north of the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The insurgents were killed as part of an operation targeting al Qaeda militants in the area.Jurf al-Sakhar:#1: Gunmen killed a civilian in a drive-by shooting in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 85 km (55 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.Najaf:.#1: At 4.30 a.m. of Thursday, a joint forces raided the Rahma neighborhood in Najaf ( 5 km to the north of Najaf city ) with air cover inuring four people and arresting 6 others besides two of the forth injured ones, a member of Sadrists office in Najaf said .While the American army sent us this report “ In an Iraqi Army-led operation, nine suspected militants were detained in Najaf on 3 January. During the operation, ground forces were attacked with small arms fire and a grenade. Ground forces responded in self defense, wounding two, who were treated on site and then transported to a medical facility.Amara:.#1: Two policemen were killed on Friday in an oil tank explosion at a checkpoint in northern Amara, a police source said. "A booby-trapped oil tank went off at a checkpoint in northern Amara, killing two policemen and injuring others," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the independent news agency Voices of IraqBasra:#1: A British military spokesman said no injuries were reported after a missile attack against Iraq's Basra Airport, which British forces use as a military base. The spokesman said in a statement Friday that no injuries or material losses were sustained when unknown militants launched a missile attack against the base in southern Iraq, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported Friday..#2: One civilian was killed on Friday in a landmine explosion east of Basra, the head of removing landmines association said."A shepherd, was blown into pieces as he hit the landmine planted in al-Ghadier district in al-Shalamga region, east of Basra," Iyad Kanaan al-Tamemi told the independent news agency Voices of IraqMosul:#1: Three policemen were killed and four others injured in insurgents' attack on their patrol in Mosul City, a local security source said on Friday. "The incident occurred overnight when suspected al-Qaida insurgents attacked with Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) a police patrol in the Adan intersection" in the east of the city, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Two of the patrol's vehicles were also damaged by the attack according to the source.#2: Joint forces from the Iraqi army and police defused a car bomb in central Mosul, the Ninewa police chief said on Friday.#3: The Iraqi soldier who killed two U.S. soldiers in Mosul 10 days ago was a member of an armed group who infiltrated into a joint Iraqi-U.S. force, the commander of the Iraqi army's 2nd Division said. "The soldier was part of a joint Iraqi-U.S. patrol undertaking security duty in al-Haramat area, western Mosul, on December 26. When the patrol came under firing attack, the soldier opened fire at U.S. soldiers and killed two of them," Brig. Mutaa Habib al-Khazraji told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The U.S. side denied that this Iraqi soldier opened fire at U.S. servicemen because they sexually harassed an Iraqi girl, affirming that the scene where the incident took place was void of any civilians.The U.S. DoD reports on December 26th. Capt. Rowdy J. Inman and Sgt. Benjamin B. Portell died in Mosul from small arms fire during dismounted combat operations.Ceyhan:#1: An Iraqi source reported that Iraq has resumed pumping crude oil at an average of 72,000 barrels a day via the northern pipeline into Turkey.

The mainstream media has totally forgotten about our troops in Iraq, and even the death of three GIs in Iraq is not likely to drag the media away from their 24/7 reporting on the presidential election.

Baghdad, Jan 4, (VOI) – Two U.S. soldiers were killed in military operations in the province of Diala while a third was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) south of Baghdad, the U.S. army in Iraq said."Two Multi-National Division – North Soldiers were killed in a small-arms fire attack while conducting operations in Diala province Jan. 3. Additionally, one more MND-N Soldier was injured in the attack and evacuated to a Coalition Forces’ hospital," according to a U.S. army statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).The U.S. army had said in a statement on Thursday that a soldier of the MNF in central Iraq was killed when his foot patrol came under an IED attack on Wednesday in al-Zanbraniya area, al-Yousufiya district, south of Baghdad.With these two incidents the U.S. army lost three soldiers during the past three days of 2008.The deaths bring the number of the U.S. troops killed in Iraq since March 2003 invasion to 3,907, according to statistics released by the U.S. army.Of this number, 23 have been killed in December 2007, thus becoming the month with the second lowest number of U.S. fatalities after February 2004 during which 20 soldiers were killed.Despite a decrease in the number of U.S. loss of life in Iraq during the past six months, the total U.S. fatalities in 2007 amounted to 900, compared to 822 in 2006.November 2004, which witnessed fierce battles between U.S. forces and armed groups in Falluja city, Anbar province, remains the month that saw the highest U.S. death toll with 137.April 2004 comes second with 135, followed by May 2007 during which 126 U.S. soldiers were killed.

GI Bill payments for on-the-job and apprenticeship training have dropped by more than $100 a month because Congress failed to extend a two-year-old pilot program that provided higher rates.Effective Jan. 1, the maximum payment for on-the-job training for those who served at least three years of active duty is $825 for the first six months of training, $605.55 for the second six months and $385.35 for any remaining training. Since Oct. 1, the rates had been $935.85 for the first six months, $715.65 for the second six months and $494.45 for the remainder.For people who served fewer than three years of active duty, the new benefits rates are $670.50 for the first six months, $491.70 for the second six months and $312.90 for the remainder. Previously, those rates were $759.90 for the first six months, $581.10 for the second six months and $402.30 for the remainder.Because apprenticeship and on-the-job training benefits are paid one month after training is received, GI Bill recipients will see the drop in their February checks.